Mark Walmsley is the Marketing Director at WebProjects. In his experience outsourcing could result in annual savings of more than 50%. Find out how and why.
A Marketing Director told me recently that her company’s 3-year-old website wasn’t as attractive, usable or compelling as that of her main rival. She feared she was losing business as a result.
The staff member who set it up had long gone and Kate wasn’t even sure who they had registered their domain through!
As the person responsible for marketing and communications, this was becoming a real problem for her. She had spoken to her colleagues and they were determined to reverse the decline and set aside a significant proportion of the company’s annual marketing budget.
They all agreed that they needed a stable, ongoing website development process and not just a shiny new website every year or so. They wanted a website that enhanced the perception of their business in the minds of potential customers. While the new website could and should include an online shop, it was vital that the site should ‘out-shine’ those of the competition. It needed to be updated regularly, offer usable interaction and create community around their products and services.
It soon became clear that they didn’t have in-house the skills required to conceive, design, programme, maintain and promote a new website of the size and technical complexity they envisaged. It was also clear that simply getting a web designer to design and deliver a new site and then leave it with them was to repeat mistakes made the last time. They needed a longer term solution.
Kate asked me what her options were and I told her that she had three:
For each option, the implications in terms of cost and the impact on existing workload were significant and varied, so I went into more detail for her:
Hire One Person
For many organisations who want some in-house control over their website, this is often the most appealing option. However, it is too much to ask one person to have all the creative, technical and marketing skills required to develop, maintain and promote a successful website so it’s likely that some additional freelance support will be required. If not, there is a real danger that the site would be restricted by the levels of creative and or technical skills of your ‘webmaster’.
If he or she should then leave, you are in the unenviable position of having to recruit based on the skillset you’ve lost or starting from scratch.
Pros:
Cons:
Hire a Team
Organisations who employ over about 25 people and have a large marketing department and a website to match, will often opt to hire a team of 4 or more to manage their website. A team of this size can cover the required creative, technical, marketing and project management skills. For many organisations this is a successful solution and results in a vibrant and effective Internet marketing strategy.
However, the costs of recruiting, employing, training, accommodating, equipping and replacing four permanent members of staff are considerable. There is also the chance that idle time or even complacency could develop.
This is rarely the most cost effective solution.
Pros:
Cons:
Outsourcing
Creating an Outsourced Web Team offers the advantages of using an in-house team but at a significantly reduced cost, as the diagram below shows. Further, you can manage your expense without laying off staff and you can expect levels of customers service typical of a good client/supplier relationship.
Pros:
Cons:
The Bottom Line
Many large organisations choose to establish and maintain in-house teams to manage their websites. However, it’s clear that outsourcing instead of hiring is a more cost effective and flexible solution for organisations who need to create, maintain and promote a stable, scalable, market-leading website and eMarketing strategy.
For organisations who depend less on a regularly updated and interactive website, a single ‘webmaster’ could easily manage the day-to-day updates. However, contingency should be set aside to cover the costs of unexpected freelancers costs for creative and technical tasks beyond the reach of the employed webmaster.
The figures below offers an estimated cost comparison for hiring and outsourcing.
Annual total cost for one person comes to £37,500, versus an in-house team of four at £150,000, versus an outsourced web team at £60,000 *
* Based on an annual contract for 10 days per month
Summary
Outsourcing is often dismissed on the grounds of cost and consistency. However, as more and more Financial Directors demand a return on web investment, Marketing Directors are taking a close look at the options and related costs and finding that significant savings can be made.
Anyone who has worked in the marketing department of a medium to large organisation will know that permanent employment is no guarantee of long-term staff consistency and stability.
If you are considering hiring or expanding an internal web team, ask yourself what the in-house team offers over a retained outsourced web team. If you aren’t getting 50% more value for your money you are wasting it.